Calling it the most reasonable and cost-effective option for rapid transit along the northwest corridor, Regional Transportation District staff on Monday recommended running commuter rail north to Church Ranch Boulevard in Westminster and a bus transit system the rest of the way to Longmont.

The new plan relies on a 0.4 percent sales tax increase for the metro-wide FasTracks rapid-transit system - not yet approved by the RTD board of directors - that could go on the November ballot and raise about $160 million a year.

Reaction from area officials who attended the Monday meeting of RTD's FasTracks Monitoring Committee was strong and unified: promises were made.

"Everyone is seemingly getting their stuff except us," Rep. Matt Jones, D-Louisville, told the board. "We can get rail by 2042? I'll be 98 years old."

Said Superior Trustee Debra Williams: "RTD does not have the right to usurp the voters and create a division in the northwest corridor."

The new rail and bus system would be completed by 2022.

Rail would be extended by about six miles on a line already is being built to Westminster. It leaves open a number of extensions, to be built in segments as funding allows, that eventually could extend to Longmont.

The RTD board is set to decide March 20 what to do with the northwest corridor. Its choice must be approved by the Denver Regional Council of Governments before RTD can put a tax increase before voters.

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Voters initially approved a 0.4 percent sales tax in 2004 to fund FasTracks, with the guarantee of several commuter-rail lines to be finished by 2014, an estimate that later adjusted to 2020. Support was strong in Boulder County, where 64 percent of voters approved FasTracks. Voters in Broomfield and Weld counties also approved the plan.

The extensions to Longmont, when built in segments, would be paid by the original sales tax approved in 2004, RTD officials said.

"The costs are likely to become more reasonable as we move forward," RTD General Manager Phillip Washington told media during a briefing Monday before a public meeting in which the recommendation was announced formally.

A tax increase, if proposed, would pay for the rail system - about $300 million - and a bus rapid-transit system to Longmont would be paid under the existing taxing structure, costing about $894 million.

Washington said staff would provide the board with an annual report that assesses the income and economics of the northwest rail for a yearly approval - or not - of extending the system toward Longmont.

"Understanding the fiscal realities that we are facing, our recommendation says we do it in a segmented manner," Washington told the RTD board and about 60 people. "As we build bus rapid transit, it's a natural conversion from (bus rapid transit) to commuter rail, so nothing is wasted here."

The final price on the rail to Church Ranch could still fluctuate depending on the amount BNSF railroad demands for access to its valued rights of way. The railroad wanted more than $500 million in a flat payment for access to rights to Westminster - as well as some capital improvement expenditures.

"This is little more than a fancy name for the same old service that we've got," Schreiber said. "HOV lanes are not the same when you have automobiles competing for the same space."

Others at the meeting insisted another proposal for a tax increase creates a credibility issue for RTD.

"We don't have a prayer of passing a new tax when the public has a worry you'll not use it for what it's asked for," said Barb Stephens, who said she lives near the Westminster Mall. "Unlike 2004, though, I wouldn't put up a sign in my yard this time."

The northwest rail has been controversial as RTD determined its existing budget of $894 million would balloon to $1.7 billion based on construction costs and railroad agreements.

It's part of a larger problem for RTD, which has seen costs rise on all of its proposed FasTracks lines. RTD also miscalculated the amount of sales tax revenue it would collect metro-wide.

Extending the rail system from south Westminster to Church Ranch solves many of the congestion issues of that area that would be experienced by the bus systems.

"The Church Ranch station is the best spot of bus rapid transit to be picked up by a rail system," Washington said. "And the reverse is true as well, the alleviation of congestion during the morning and evening peaks."

The south Westminster station is to be located at 71st Avenue and Lowell Boulevard and is already being built as part of the Eagle P3 project. That project includes rail to Denver International Airport and the Gold Line to Arvada and Wheat Ridge.

Washington said RTD is "being very conservative" in its cost estimates for the line to Church Ranch.

The line to south Westminster is expected to be completed by 2016.

"By building Northwest Rail in segments and augmenting that service with bus rapid transit, RTD can best meet the region's mobility needs sooner, while remaining fiscally responsible."

How long the tax would remain in effect is undetermined, RTD officials said.

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